Eclipse Aviation Executive Team Vern Raburn - President and CEO
Vern Raburn’s passion for the high-tech industry is exceeded only by his love of aviation. With more than 25 years’ experience in the information technology industry, Raburn is a successful entrepreneur who has helped to shape the course of the information technology revolution and the high-technology industry. He has held senior executive positions at Microsoft, Lotus Development, Symantec, and Slate, as well as at the Paul Allen Group. During that time, he has amassed more than 6,500 hours of flight time and earned type certificates in aircraft ranging from four-engine airliners to World War II bombers to modern executive jets.
Peg Billson - Chief Operating Officer
Peg Billson is responsible for all areas of operations at Eclipse Aviation, including Engineering, Program Management, Information Technology, Supply Chain Management, and Operations. Billson, who has 25 years of aerospace industry experience, joined Eclipse after an impressive career at Honeywell, where she served as the Vice President and General Manager of Airframe Systems. As the leader of this 3,300-person organization, Billson was responsible for its strategic direction and financial commitments. Billson also served as Honeywell’s Vice President and General Manager of Aircraft Landing Systems and Vice President of Engineering for Engines, Systems and Services. Billson also served at McDonnell Douglas Corporation for thirteen years. Her last position at McDonnell Douglas was Vice President of the MD-11, MD-80 and MD-90 programs. Billson has a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from California State University at Long Beach and a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Billson is an instrument and multi-engine rated private pilot.
J. Mark Borseth - Sr. VP and Chief Financial Officer
J. Mark Borseth is responsible for all financial planning, management and reporting at Eclipse Aviation. Borseth joins Eclipse Aviation following a 23-year career at 3M, where he most recently served as vice president of global business processes. Borseth also served as the company’s corporate treasurer. Among his accomplishments as corporate treasurer was the successful implementation of a stock split. He also served as president and general manager of 3M’s Canadian operation. Borseth held Product and Liability responsibility for the entire operation. Prior to that, Borseth held a variety of executive leadership roles at 3M, including: healthcare market controller, director of corporate financial services, international finance manager and area financial manager for Asia Pacific. Borseth earned a bachelor’s degree in management and industrial relations, and an MBA in general management from Mankato State University in Minnesota. Don Burtis - Senior Vice President, Senior Fellow
Don Burtis led the development of Eclipse Aviation’s Avio Total Aircraft Integration™ and was named Senior Fellow in 2004. Burtis has more than 30 years of experience in high-tech product development. He has held executive management positions with UTM, the Power Electronics Group for Capstone Turbine Corporation, PCSI, and General Magic, where he gained experience in taking technical products from concept through design and into high-volume production. Earlier in his career, Burtis worked on unmanned satellite experiments, designed controllers for environmental test systems, and managed a user interface validation service in cooperation with Apple Computer.
Dr. Oliver Masefield - Senior Vice President, Senior Fellow
Dr. Oliver Masefield joined Eclipse in 2000 and led the design and development of the Eclipse 500™ jet prior to being named a Senior Fellow in 2004. Previously, Masefield was VP of Research and Development of Pilatus Aircraft, where he was responsible for technical innovation for Pilatus products worldwide. During his tenure at Pilatus, Masefield managed development and certification of the highly successful PC-12 corporate/utility aircraft as well as the development of the PC-7 and PC-9 military training aircraft. Before joining Pilatus in 1973, he was a Project Engineer on advanced Harrier V/STOL fighter aircraft for Hawker Siddeley Aircraft Ltd. Masefield holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in Aeronautical Engineering and a PhD in aerodynamics from the Loughborough University of Technology.
Raymond Barratt – Vice President, Chief Information Officer
Raymond Barratt is responsible for Eclipse Aviation’s information systems. Before joining Eclipse, Barratt was the head of IT governance for the Office for National Statistics in the United Kingdom, where he guided IT strategy and project prioritization. Barratt also founded and was president of Brivea, LLC, which provides business intelligence products and services to Fortune 500 companies. Earlier in his career, Barratt served as the CIO of CDI Corporation, BOC Industrial Gases and W. R. Grace and Company. Barratt holds aDegree in International Law from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.
Bruce E. Castle - Vice President, General Counsel
Bruce Castle manages all of Eclipse Aviation's legal and regulatory functions. Castle's experience includes general counsel of Campbell Corporation, an investment and holding company. Prior to this position, Castle was general counsel for SBS Technologies, Inc., and primary counsel for GE Fanuc Embedded Systems. Castle is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Law.
Patrick Duffy – Vice President, Product Development and Engineering
Pat Duffy is responsible for managing product development, engineering, certification, and flight test. Duffy joins Eclipse Aviation following a successful career as a program manager and flight test pilot for the U.S. Air Force. His extensive leadership experience spans more than 27 years and includes command at the squadron, group, and wing levels. He served as Vice Commander of the Air Force's Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, where he was responsible for the development of all Air Force aircraft. Duffy is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and received a Boeing Endowment for Excellence award to complete a Master's Degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the University of Washington. He is a qualified test pilot with extensive engineering and flight test experience, accumulating more than 3,500 hours in over 52 aircraft types. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.
Todd Fierro - Vice President, Manufacturing
Todd Fierro is responsible for all aspects of high-rate production for the Eclipse 500. Fierro joins Eclipse Aviation following a long and successful career at Ford Motor Company, where he ascended rapidly and most recently served as plant manager for the company’s Sterling Heights, Michigan production facility. At his 18 years at Ford, Fierro was known for his commitment to aggressive process improvement and his ability to increase production capability while maintaining a very lean operation. Early in his tenure at Ford, Fierro was appointed to lead the launch of the F Series truck. In 1997, Ford chose Fierro to lead its global dimensional control efforts, where he worked closely with the company’s European and Asian operations. Two years later, he became the body area manager, and was responsible for all body module fabrication of the Ford Focus product line. Ford soon promoted Fierro to lead final assembly for the Ford Taurus, where he oversaw a plant that produced 74 Taurus vehicles an hour. In 2004, Fierro implemented lean processes at the Cleveland engine plant, giving working groups greater responsibility for their decision making. Fierro’s earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Wayne State University.
Jack Harrington - Vice President, Business Affairs
Prior to joining Eclipse, Jack Harrington was in private practice as an aviation lawyer since 1986. His aviation insurance experience is complemented by broad experience in general casualty and product liability insurance defense matters. Harrington is a member of the Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association, the Aviation Insurance Association, the National Business Aviation Association, the National Transportation Safety Board Bar Association, and the Experimental Aircraft Association, of which he is a director. He holds a commercial pilot certificate with airplane single-engine land and sea, multi-engine, and instrument airplane ratings.
Andrew Kamm - Vice President, Finance
Andrew Kamm is a Certified Public Accountant with more than 20 years of experience in financial and regulatory reporting, financial transactions and analysis, and forecasting and auditing. He graduated with honors from the University of New Mexico, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting. His previous professional positions include Vice President of Finance and Director of Accounting for Furr's Supermarkets, Inc., which comprised 69 stores with $800 million in annual sales. Kamm oversees Eclipse’s treasury management, financial planning and analysis, and taxes and reporting.
Edward M. Lundeen - Vice President, International Business
Ed Lundeen is responsible for the expansion and development of Eclipse’s international business activities and is presently working with Eclipse’s partner, ETIRC, on the establishment of a factory in Russia in conjunction with the expansion of sales, marketing and services operations in Europe. During his 27+ year career, Lundeen has served as Vice President, Contracts for Eclipse Aviation; Director of Contracts for Iomega Corporation; Regional Director, Supply Chain Management for Phelps Dodge Mining Company; and, Manager of Purchasing for San Diego Gas & Electric. Ed has an MBA from Western New Mexico University and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Arizona State University. He has published papers on outsourcing, contracting, procurement, reverse auctions, buyer training, and ERP selection and implementation. Lundeen has also taught business courses at the university level.
Mike McConnell - Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Mike McConnell has more than 15 years of management experience in the high-tech industry and 7 years in aerospace industry. Prior to Eclipse Aviation, he served as Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning for Mooney Aircraft where he was responsible for worldwide marketing, sales and customer support activities. Prior to joining Mooney, he was founder and president of an authorized distributor for Mooney aircraft. McConnell held key management positions in his 10 plus years at Dell Computer Corporation, where he contributed to Dell's record growth from $250 million to approximately $30 billion in annual revenues.
John Ricciardelli - Vice President, Ownership Experience and Product Support
Ricciardelli joins Eclipse Aviation following a long and successful career at both Bell Helicopter and Honeywell. Under his leadership at Bell Helicopter as executive director of commercial development programs, Ricciardelli’s cross-functional team won the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter Program. They delivered a flying development aircraft in less than nine months, paving the way for a successful certification program and future deployment using the Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) Bell 407 platform. At Honeywell, Ricciardelli was responsible for establishing a support network for multiple turbofan engines used in business aircraft. This included a successful entry into service launch of the TF7000 in 2003. Ricciardelli ascended the management ranks quickly while spending time in engineering, operations, product line management and customer support. John received his Six Sigma Black Belt certification, enabling him to successfully deploy numerous process improvements and develop an innovative worldwide support team that delivered a proactive approach to preventing defects in products and services. Ricciardelli held a variety of leadership roles at Honeywell, including: director of business aviation customer support, manager customer support programs, and product support engineer. Ricciardelli earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University in 1983, and an Executive MBA in general management from Texas Christian University in 2006. Tina Rulo - Vice President, Human Resources and Administration
In her tenure as Vice President of Human Resources at various high-technology companies, Tina Rulo has created and led the implementation of worldwide staffing and training programs, professional and leadership development institutes, and employee retention plans. Rulo directs Eclipse Aviation’s continued efforts to establish the culture and supporting policies to attract and retain highly skilled employees. She is also responsible for overseeing all aspects of the human resources discipline, including the company’s compliance with regulations at federal, state, and local levels. Rulo previously served as Vice President of Human Resources for high-growth companies including Western Multiplex, Hyperion Solutions, and VLSI Technology, Inc.
Andrew Vikta - Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer
Andy Vikta is responsible for accounting, reporting and budgeting activities at Eclipse Aviation, as well as the company's compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Before joining Eclipse, Vikta managed several multi-million dollar divisions for Kraft Foods International in France, Turkey, and Lithuania. He has owned and managed a real estate development company in Santa Fe, NM; served as the CFO for Mission Electronics Corp. in California; and was an audit consultant at Cargill, Inc. Vikta received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is a Certified Public Accountant in New Mexico and California.
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